and its rise as an Imperial Power

1
The United States
and its rise as an Imperial Power
Objective To understand and analyze the
evolution of historical events at the end of the
20th century that cemented Americas status as a
colonizing nation.
2
The Civil War is over!!

• 1870 American industry is exploding and economy
  is flourishing!!
• What does a producer need?
• Consumers!! New markets to sustain that growth
• Colonies to provide raw materials
• Strategic military outposts

3
A Splendid Little War

• The Spanish-American War of 1898

• The remaining colonies of a once vast Spanish
  empire Cuba, Guam, Philippines, and Puerto Rico.
• Cuba Insurrection Cuba fights guerilla war for
  independence.
• President McKinley tries diplomacy. Two events
  deter
• Spanish minister to U.S. writes a private letter
  insulting McKinley that is exploited in the
  press.

• A mysterious explosion destroys the USS Maine in
  the harbor of Havana, Cuba killing 266 crewmen.

Yellow Journalists capitalize!!
The cause of the explosion is still disputed.
4
A Splendid Little War

• In April of 1898, Congress gives permission to
  declare war
• The Teller Amendment caveat that U.S. has no
  imperial ambition (wink! wink!)
• Spain retaliates with its own declaration.

5
A Splendid Little War

• Theatres CUBA, GUAM, PUERTO RICO, PHILIPPINES
• Theodore Roosevelt proves a war hero with
  conquest of Santiago and San Juan Hill with
  Rough Riders.
• Spanish fleet surrenders off the coast of Cuba
• Treaty of Paris 1898
• Spain ceded to the United States all of Cuba,
  Puerto Rico, the small Pacific island of Guam,
  and sold the Philippines for 20 million.
• Cuba given independenceexcept The Platt
  Amendment is added to their Constitution.
• The treaty denied American citizenship and
  statehood
• Advent of America as an Imperial Power.

6
Back
Cuba and the Platt Amendment

• The Platt Amendment of 1901 to the Cuban
  Constitution
• Cuba could not make treaties with other foreign
  powers that would interfere with their
  independence.
• The U.S. could intervene in Cuban affairs in
  order to preserve independence and maintain
  order.
• The U.S. Navy could lease any facility from the
  Cuban government. (Guantanamo Bay??)
• Cuba was made a protectorate of the the U.S.

7
The Filipino Insurrection

• Spain made a deal with the Americans
• Filipino people wanted independence, period.
  They attacked U.S. forces in Manila in early
  1899.
• A First Hand Account - Description of an 1899
  fire fight.
• Anders, Major FrankMedal of Honor Recipient
• Insurrection stopped in 1902. Its cost was 4,000
  American soldiers, 20,000 guerrillas, and about
  170 million.
• Taft was appointed Civil Administrator to help
  organized local governing. (Who was Iraqs Civil
  Administrator?)
• Independence was promised by 1916 but was delayed
  until 1946. Why?

8
And Puerto Rico...

• Puerto Rico was also ruled by American military
  for over a year.
• In April of 1900, The Foraker Act established a
  civil government that contained
• A Governor
• An Executive Council

• An elected 35-member House of Representatives.
• One Supreme Court

• In 1917, Congress passed the Jones Act conferring
  United States citizenship on all Puerto Ricans.
• In 1952, Puerto Rico became a self-governing
  commonwealth of the U.S.

9
The Role of Yellow Journalism in the War

• Yellow Journalism contributes to American clamor
  for a war to free Cuba from Spain.
• Two newspapers compete for circulation
• New York Journal owned by Hearst
• New York World owned by Pulitzer
• You provide the pictures, Ill provide the war
• S E N S A T I O N A L I S M I S B O R N ! !
• See handout

Back
10
Why was America drawn into Imperialism?

• The following themes combined provided the moral
  momentum that allowed the U.S. public to support
  this country becoming an imperial power
• Manifest Destiny
• Anglo-Saxonism (racism)
• Ethnocentrism (national superiority)
• The roots of this thinking have never fully been
  eliminated from our national consciousness.  That
  is why vigilance against policies rooted in bias
  and prejudice can never be relaxed.

11
Imperialists v. Anti-Imperialists
Imperialists
Anti-Imperialists

• U.S. Mission to develop, educate, and uplift the
  savages
• Ideal location for military bases
• Ideal location for U.S. trade with East Asia
• Social Darwinism

• Denying self-government to others contrary to
  Declaration of Independence.
• People in new colonies would undercut U.S. labor

• Racism

William Jennings Bryan speaks out against
imperialism.
The Goddess of Liberty
The Anti-Imperialist League was created notably
by Mark Twain and many other concerned Americans.
12
White Mans BurdenBy Rudyard Kipling
Take up the White Man's burdenSend forth the
best ye breedGo, bind your sons to exileTo
serve your captives' needTo wait, in heavy
harness,On fluttered folk and wildYour
new-caught sullen peoples,Half devil and half
child.Take up the White Man's burden--In
patience to abide,To veil the threat of
terrorAnd check the show of prideBy open
speech and simple,An hundred times made
plain,To seek another's profitAnd work
another's gain.Take up the White Man's
burden--The savage wars of peace--Fill full the
mouth of Famine,And bid the sickness ceaseAnd
when your goal is nearest(The end for others
sought)Watch sloth and heathen follyBring all
your hope to nought.
13
White Mans Burden, continued
Take up the White Man's burden--No iron rule of
kings,But toil of serf and sweeper--The tale of
common things.The ports ye shall not enter,The
roads ye shall not tread,Go, make them with your
livingAnd mark them with your dead.Take up the
White Man's burden,And reap his old reward--The
blame of those ye betterThe hate of those ye
guard--The cry of hosts ye humour(Ah, slowly!)
toward the light--"Why brought ye us from
bondage,Our loved Egyptian night?"
Take up the White Man's burden--Ye dare not
stoop to less--Nor call too loud on FreedomTo
cloak your weariness.By all ye will or
whisper,By all ye leave or do,The silent sullen
peoplesShall weigh your God and you.Take up the
White Man's burden!Have done with childish
days--The lightly-proffered laurel,The easy
ungrudged praiseComes now, to search your
manhoodThrough all the thankless years,Cold,
edged with dear-bought wisdom,The judgment of
your peers.
14
The Central American Canal

• USS Oregon
• Based on the west coast at the start of the war.
• Has to make the trip all the way around South
  America to reach Cuba, arriving just in time for
  the final naval battle.
• Shows the need for a quicker route from the
  Pacific Ocean to the Atlantic Ocean.
• In 1901, the U.K. agreed to let the U.S. build a
  canal as long as it remained open to all foreign
  vessels even during war time.
• Next step was to find a suitable site.

15
The Central American Canal

• The construction site was disputed. A surprise
  volcanic eruption in Nicaragua made the choice
  simple - the U.S. Senate chose the Panamanian
  Route earlier abandoned by the French.
• Panamanians declare independence from Columbia
  (with help from American war ships). In return,
  U.S. gains control of the Canal Zone - a strip of
  Panamanian land 10 miles wide.
• The price was 10 million with an addition
  250,000 annual (and perpetual) rent.
• Problems in building the canal including ridding
  the area of all fever diseases (malaria, yellow
  fever, etc.) it took 10 years to construct it
  cost nearly 400 million.
• The Panama Canal was completed in 1914 just as
  World War I was beginning.
• In order to fortify their new investment, the
  U.S. staffed Guantanamo Bay as a military
  checkpoint securing one of the major sea
  approaches to the canal. We also bought the
  Virgin Islands from Denmark.

16
The Panama Canal
17
The Panama Canal
18
The Panama Canal
The Panama Canal Treaty of 1977 was signed by
U.S. President Jimmy Carter and Panama's Omar
Torrijos
It abolished the Canal Zone as of October 1,
1979, but gave the United States the right to
continue operating the canal until December 31,
1999.
19
The Monroe Doctrine Revisited
The Worlds Constable
In 1904, President Theodore Roosevelt, in his
annual address to Congress, asserted American
power over the Dominican Republics refusal to
pay foreign debt when he said
Chronic wrongdoing, or an impotence which
results in a general loosening of the ties of
civilized society, may in America, as elsewhere,
ultimately require intervention by some civilized
nation. Roosevelt Corollary
Roosevelt declared that if intervention was
needed in the Western Hemisphere, then the Monroe
Doctrine required that the U.S. undertake the
intervention. This would change U.S. Foreign
Policy forever. See Handout